Reversible flyer for paying off wire from a supply spool



March 25. 1969 s. HANNIS ETAL 3,434,677

REVERSIBLE F LYER FOR PAYING OFF WIRE FROM A SUPPLY SPOOL Filed July 7, 1967 Sheet of 2 March 25, 1969 s. HANNIS ETAL 3,434,677

REVERSIBLE FLYER FOR PAYING OFF WIRE FROM A SUPPLY" SPOOL Filed July 7, 1967 Sheet 2 of 2 I i x 29 za as A I 47 26 37 H 4/ 2 4% O L 38 52 28 ,70 if; FT 5 29' v United States Patent US. Cl. 242-128 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention is concerned with paying off wire from a supply spool in a wire manufacturing process, for example, wherein wire is pulled through a pulp insulating machine.

Description of the prior art In conventional practice, a flyer arm freely revolvable about the axis of a stationary supply spool carries a freely rotatable sheave at its outer end over which the wire being payed off the spool runs. A flat spring retainer maintains the wire in the sheave groove. The inner end of the arm is attached to a rotatable collar controlled by an adjustable friction brake to maintain a desired tension on the wire. The wire before reaching the sheave engages the rim of a burnished chromed cover which supports the flyer. Due to handling and wear, the rim of the cover develops nicks and irregularities which cause wire breaks resulting in reduced efliciency of operation. Periodically, the cover must be rechromed in order to restore its smooth surface. The chroming and rechroming of the cover adds significantly to the cost of operation. Further, when slack develops in the wire, the wire may become entangled about the arm and a wire break may result. Also, it is necessary to thread the wire manually in the sheave groove beneath the retainer.

At times non-uniform distribution of the wire occurs in the wire mill, that is, the wire may not be symmetrically wound and may accumulate or balloon in a region towards what is normally considered the top" of the spool. The wire transfer tail is at the bottom of the spool and projects outwardly from the wire layers so that a connection may be made to the leading end of the wire wound on an adjacent full spool to render the operation continuous. When non-uniform distribution is encountered towards the top of the spool it is the practice to invert the spool temporarily so that the accumulated wire is at the bottom. Otherwise, the accumulated wire might fall down over a section of wire being payed off and cause breaks or entanglement of the wire.

When the spool is to be inverted the flyer is removed and then attached to the spool after inversion. The wire must be rethreaded in the sheave of the flyer arm which now rotates in the opposite direction. Usually, the wire is payed off after inversion until only a small percentage of the supply remains on the spool and the spool is again inverted so that the tail will be in its proper position at the bottom.

3,434,677 Patented Mar. 25, 1969 Patent 2,999,654 to Fuller shows a pair of flyer arms with sheaves, as distinguished from the conventional single arm flyer, and is reversible but it requires threading of the wire. In other words, the wire will not automatically find the groove of the proper sheave in dependence on the direction of rotation. Further, because it is not of the ring type it is subject to the above discussed entanglement problem. As a matter of fact, the entanglement problem may be worsened since the wire could become entangled about either of the two flyer arms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a simple and efiicient flyer for paying oif wire from a stationary spool.

In order to overcome the problems discussed, a flyer pay-01f assembly made essentially of a welded wire construction is provided and includes a freely revolvable outer wire ring having a pair of freely rotatable sheaves mounted thereon at a predetermined angle at diametri cally opposite positions. A fixed inner ring is provided with depending wire loops for insertion into the hub of a spool. A plate mounted across the inner ring gives Weight to the fixed portion of the assembly and fixedly supports a shaft on which is mounted a rotatable collar which is braked by an adjustable friction brake to provide the desired tension on the wire. Wire clamping members are attached to the collar and radial wire members extend outwardly from the clamping members to the outer ring. At one side of each rotatable sheave a deflector or guide also of wire material is mounted on the outer ring and enables the Wire to avoid the unwanted sheave as it moves about the ring and automatically insert itself into the groove of the desired sheave at the start of the pay-off depending on the direction of wire rotation. The outer ring which is at a greater radial distance from the spool axis than the spool flanges keeps the wire from engaging the flange rim which usually has a rough finish. In operation, if the wire being drawn off the spool moves out of the sheave due to a temporary slack condition, it will automatically find the proper sheave When the slack condition subsides. If the spool must be inverted the pay-off assembly may be readily removed from the hub at one flange and placed in the hub at the opposite flange. The welded wire construction provided by the present invention besides having the recited advantages, may be readily fabricated at lower cost than the conventional assembly. While the description refers to a spool, this term is used synonymously with supply reel, bobbin, and winding forms generally.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the flyer;

FIG. 2 is a detailed section along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view partly in section along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of a pair of adjacent spools of wire, each provided with a flyer;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 to illustrate the clamping members.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the drawings, a pair of spools 10 are shown on which the wire 11 has been wound and each of which includes flanges 12 and 13 and a hub portion 14. The wire is payed off in a substantially vertical direction about a sheave (not shown) before proceeding toward a pulp insulating machine (not shown).

The flyer assembly 16 which is constructed essentially of wire material, such as low carbon or stainless steel, includes a freely revolvable outer ring 17 on which is mounted, at diametrically opposite positions, two angularly disposed freely rotatable sheaves 18. The axis A of one sheave 18 extends transverse to the axis A of the other sheave. Preferably, the angle B at which the axis A of each sheave is disposed lies in a range from 55 to 65 measured as indicated in the drawing. Each sheave is mounted on a fixed shaft 19 which extends between flattened portions 20 of the ring 17, and is threaded at both ends to accommodate nuts 21. It will be seen that the outer ring 17 in reality comprises two semi-circular sections joined together by the shafts 19.

Welded to the outer ring 17 is a plurality of radially extending wire members 22 each having a sloping portion 23 and downwardly extending end portions 24, 26. End portions 24 are Welded to outer ring 17 while end portions 26 are welded to a pair of clamping members 27. Each clamping member comprises a wire loop 28 having a substantially semi-circular configuration. At the closed end of each loop a bolt 29 extends through washer 31 and threaded aperture 70 of a plate 32 welded to the open end of the other loop.

Attached to the fixed inner ring 33 by welding are depending loop members 34 designed to engage the hub portion 14 of the spool 10. The members 34 are flexed to enable them to grip the hub portion while under spring tension. A metal plate 36 is welded at its opposite ends to the inner ring 33 and fixedly supports a stepped shaft 37 on which the rotatable collar 38 is mounted by means of anti-friction bearings 60. The clamping members 27 of the flyer assembly are applied about the collar 38 and secured thereto by tightening the bolts 29. It is obvious that the outer ring 17 supported from collar 38 is revolva- -ble about the axis of the spool to which the assembly is attached.

In order to maintain tension on the wire, a friction brake 41 is provided and includes a disc 42 of hard fibrous material attached to the top of collar 38, an intermediate disc 43 of soft fibrous material, and a disc 44 of hard fibrous material carried at the underside of retaining plate 46. The shaft 37 is flattened at 45 to prevent rotation of plate 46 which is provided with a complementary shaped aperture 50. Mounted on the shaft above the plate 46 is a spring 47 and a knurled nut 48 for varying the braking force applied to collar 38 to control the wire tension.

Adjacent to one side of each sheave 18 is a curved deflector of wire material 51 welded to the flattened portion 20 of the ring 17 and portions 23 and 24 of wire member 22. The outer surfaces of the respective deflectors 51 are so located in the radial direction, and the angles at which the respective sheaves extend are such, that a wire approaching a sheave from the side of the sheave 18 at which the deflector is mounted is guided outwardly to clear the sheave and continue about the ring until it is engaged in the groove of the other sheave 18. It will be noted that one flange 9 of each sheave 18 protrudes beyond the outer surface of the outer ring 17 in the radial direction and is effective to trap the oncoming wire when the wire is approaching from the side of the sheave not provided with a deflector 51. It will also be noted that the other flange 9 of the sheave has its periphery in line with the outer surface of ring 17 such that the wire may be guided into the sheave groove.

In operation, the assembly 16 may be attached to the top end of a spool by engaging the loop members 34 with the hub portion 14 of the spool. As the wire is payed off, regardless of the direction of unwinding from the spool, the wire will automatically seat itself in the groove of the proper sheave 18. As explained, the wire will be payed off as the outer ring 17 revolves about the spool axis as the wire presses against the sheave while the inner mg 33 and its attached parts remain stationary. As viewed in FIG. 1, the deflectors 51 and the angular positions of the sheaves 18 are such that when the wire rotates in a clockwise direction the sheave at the left will be engaged by the wire and when the wire rotates in a counterclockwise direction the sheave at the right will be engaged by the wire.

In one construction, the outer ring 17 was made of wire, and the remaining wire parts were made of A wire except the deflectors 51 which were made of 71 wire. The important consideration in this regard is that the construction be rugged enough to enable the flyer to withstand the rigors of operation and handling.

It should be understood that various changes from the disclosed embodiment may be made in the flyer construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although the sheaves 18 are shown preferably mounted at diametrically opposite positions on ring 17 for improved balance, these relative positions may be changed. Additionally, deflectors 51 could be integral parts of the outer ring 17. Although the flyer is described in connection with paying off wire it could be used for strand material in general.

What is claimed is:

1. A reversible flyer for paying off wire from a stationary supply spool comprising:

a fixed inner support means designed to engage a supply spool,

a ring mounted on the support means for rotation about the spool axis,

a pair of sheaves mounted at different locations on the ring, and

a deflector attached to the ring at one side of each sheave whereby a wire being payed ofl a spool may be deflected away from one sheave and allowed to engage the other sheave in the dependence on the direction of rotation of the wire.

2. A flyer according to claim 1 wherein:

the fixed inner support means includes:

an 111.1161 Hug, a plate mounted across the inner ring, a shaft mounted on the plate,

a collar is rotatably mounted on the shaft,

means depend from the inner ring for engaging the hub of the supply spool, and

means connect the outer ring to the collar.

3. A flyer according to claim 2 comprising:

braking means mounted on the shaft for braking the rotation of the collar to control the tension of the wire.

4. A flyer according to claim 1 wherein:

the axes of the sheaves are angularly disposed on the outer ring such that the wire may readily enter the groove of the said other sheave.

5. A flyer according to claim 4 wherein:

the sheaves are diametrically opposite each other on the outer ring.

6. A reversible flyer for paying off wire from a stationary supply spool comprising:

a fixed inner support including an inner ring of wire material and a supporting means attached to the ring,

means connected to the inner support for attachment of the flyer to a spool,

a shaft carried by the supporting means,

an outer ring of wire material rotatably supported from the shaft,

a pair of sheaves mounted in predetermined angular positions at different locations on the outer ring, and

individual deflectors located on the outer ring at one side of each sheave whereby a rotating wire being payed off a spool may be deflected away from one sheave and allowed to engage the other sheave in dependence on the direction of rotation of the wire being payed off.

7. A reversible flyer for paying off wire from a stationary supply spool comprising:

a fixed inner support including an inner ring of wire material and a supporting plate attached to the ring,

a shaft carried by the plate,

a rotatable outer ring of wire material,

a pair of sheaves mounted at diametrically opposite positions on the outer ring,

a collar mounted on the shaft,

a pair of clamping members of wire material for engaging the collar,

a plurality of radially extending wire members interconnecting the clamping members and the outer ring,

a plurality of looped members of wire material sup ported by the inner ring for attaching the flyer to the hub of a spool, and

individual deflectors located on the outer ring at one side of each sheave whereby a rotating wire being payed off a spool may be deflected away from one sheave and allowed to engage the other sheave in dependence on the direction of rotation of the wire being payed off.

8. A flyer according to claim 7 wherein:

each deflector includes a section of wire material extending to the periphery of one of the flanges of a sheave.

9. A flyer according to claim 8 wherein:

the looped members are flexed to enable them to engage the hub portion of the spool under spring tension.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,999,654 9/1961 Fuller 242-428 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,169,844 1/1959 France.

LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner. 

